Re-branding Mondays

Since we homeschool, shouldn't Mondays be more fun? We have no place to be early Monday morning. I'm not schlepping kids to school or daycare on the way to work. So why not make it more fun? Sweetpea loves running errands with me, so we started with something I've been needing to do for a while - buy new drinking glasses. We are down to about seven unbroken glasses which just won't do for a family of six.

So Sweetpea and I made an early morning run to IKEA to buy the new drinking glasses and also to pick up frozen Swedish meatballs to take to her end-of -the-season Girls on the Run party. This is a picture of her crossing the finish line on Saturday morning at Vasona Park.  She was very nervous Friday night but got over her jitters and made it over the finish line just fine on Saturday morning.

The coaches did a nice job of celebrating the girls' accomplishments and giving everyone a chance to reflect on the season. I'm not sure she will do it again next year, but she will probably do it again sometime in the years to come.

Also on Monday I had my last meeting of the year with our Education Specialist from Ocean Grove Charter School. I wasn't as organized as I was at previous meetings, but we got through it. She brought her new baby and it was so fun to hold a newborn again. My toddler looks like a giant now in comparison to a newborn.

By late afternoon, we were all so hot (the car temperature said 97 degrees) and since the a/c wasn't working at home we decided to make a break for the Swim Club to cool off. I love the neighborhood feel of this club. It reminds me of the city pools in New Jersey where we used to go with my Mom in the summers. It is great to have other kids to play with at a big pool like this.

We have finally hired a pool contractor, but the pool won't be done until end of August probably, so it's great to have a place to cool off in the meantime. I still need to sign all the kids up for swimming lessons, and tennis lessons for Sweetpea.

Baby M has finally decided on a name for himself, "Cookie." He's been hearing Markie for so long I guess he decided it sounded better as Cookie. The cutest part is that "Cookie" is the nickname of Grandma Ann's youngest sister - so his nickname is indeed a family name. He is running headlong into the two's. Climbing out of his crib several times a night, refusing to sleep. He has discovered he has the power to inflict pain with bites and pinches and is not afraid to use his newfound powers when he doesn't get his own way. I am going to have to come up with a workable discipline plan for him before we all end up bruised and tattered.

We have just a couple of weeks left of school. I told the kids we could end officially on May 31st, so I have a couple more tries to make Mondays more magical and less melancholy. 

Today we got off to a good start, it felt productive and fun. They did some journaling and reading in-between activities and errands and still got to do most of what they wanted during the day.

Tomorrow the math tutor comes, so they'll have to hit the books for at least 30 minutes each. Toto is the only one who hasn't finished his math workbook yet. 

I hope your Monday was more magical than melancholy.